Aussie MP moves to cut Kiwis' right to live across Tasman

Aussie MP moves to cut Kiwis' right to live across Tasman
By Edward Gay
12:48 PM Thursday Nov 12, 2009

Automatic entry for Kiwis moving to Australia would be a thing of the past if an Australian Labour MP gets his way.

The outspoken MP, Kelvin Thomson, has released a 14 point plan to reduce Australia's population and number six on the list is limiting the number of New Zealanders who cross the Tasman to live permanently.

"To reach a net overseas annual migration target of 70,000, the number of automatic places available for New Zealanders needs to be restricted to the number of departures from Australia over and above 25,000," Mr Thomson said.

He said the Trans-Tasman Travel arrangement would have to be "re-negotiated" in order to cut the number of New Zealanders settling in Australia.

Mr Thomson said New Zealanders should be competing for skilled migrant places along with people of other nationalities.

He said 47,780 Kiwis have migrated to Australia in 2008-09 - up from 16,364 in 2002-03.